Controversial pundit Simon Jordan has criticised Ronald Koeman’s conduct as Everton manager this season.
Everton have been struggling to meet expectations so far this season and Ronald Koeman is a man under severe pressure.
The Toffees have struggled for form and consistency at home and in Europe this season with Koeman’s unprecedented summer spending leading to increased expectations at Goodison Park.
Many fans and pundits feel the Dutchman deserves more time to get the best out of his expensively assembled side.
But others are not so sure, with a section of Blues fans calling for his head after Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat to Burnley.
Koeman himself has appeared to have lost patience with his players and publicly criticised them of late telling the media they are ‘scared to play’.
The legendary former Barcelona and Holland defender has made no secret of his desire to one day manage the Catalan giants should the opportunity arise, much to the chagrin of some Everton fans.
And now former Crystal Palace owner turned controversial pundit Simon Jordan has had his say on the issue when appearing as a guest on Sky Sports’ The Debate, claiming Koeman is more worried about his CV and future job opportunities.
“Two or three weeks ago Koeman was talking about being very worried which I thought was very strange language for a manager to be using because if I was his owner looking down on him I wouldn’t really want that to be announced to the world that my manager was worried,” Jordan told The Debate on Friday night.
“I’d want my manager to announce to the world that he was aware, and was about to fix the concerns that he may be having.
“This manager seems to have a style of management that’s quite adept at ensuring that the players are brought to the fore in terms of where the responsibility lies for some of the failings.
“There is a balancing act between throwing a player to the lions and also putting your arm around him.
“Now Koeman is obviously an experienced, established manager and what he is saying is that the players are fearful, now who’s the coach here? His job is to enthuse his players with a belief and a confidence and quite frankly Everton’s start hasn’t quite been as bad (as it has been made out) besides the Atalanta result.
“This is really flaky rhetoric (from Koeman), this is fearful and worried and not addressing individual players, this is talking about en masse… but the way Koeman’s saying it you say ‘Well actually I’m fearful about you rather than the players’.
“It almost feels to me that he’s looking at the opportunities that might exist for him further down the line in his career and making sure – or that he puts down flags – to say ‘Well you know this isn’t just about my management style this is about the group of players that I’ve got around me’.”
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